Do you think it’s slightly possible (hint: that’s sarcasm) that Randy might actually have a bond with most of these guys and the real fighter pay info bubbles up not through blog posts but through actual conversation?

Exactly the point I will be making in a post today. Instead of blaming the websites such as mine and yours, doesn’t White know that Couture has tons of contacts in the industry, I’m sure he could just ask the fighters.

The blaming of the internet by White is laughable since the only thing I have ever seen internet sites post is what the fighters actually make which is given to them by the athletic commissions. So I don’t know where he is going with that.

But the only one listed who Randy could compare his salary to would be Silva’s most likely. And we don’t know what that is yet officially. I think from what I remember on based salary alone only Liddell, CroCop and Ortiz make as much or more then Couture.

“I’m very confident though that once Randy gets back in town, if we see each other we’ll work this thing out. Not saying that Randy wouldn’t stay retired, because that’s what he wants to do – he wants to act, he wants to be on TV shows, that’s his goal – but I’m sure Randy Couture and I are gonna be friends for a long time.”

White’s tactic here is a classic union busting method utilized by industry to divide those who do the lions share of the work but see only a sliver of the profits. He wants to keep fighters isolated, afraid to talk to each other (by calling them girls?) so he can manipulate them into bad contracts. I’m no Marxist, but it’s standard big-business operating behavior.

Dana is out of control right now. He’s not even stating fact or proof when he talks about “sites” screwing things up. He’s not even mentioned one site or blog that could have been the reason for all this happening.

BUT INSTEAD HE BLAMES THE WHOLE INTERNET MMA COMMUNITY FOR THIS. WHICH IS TOTAL BS! RANDY IS THE ONE WHO MADE THE DECISION…NOT US!

In addition to those fighters, in previous statements Randy also alluded to being in the know as to what Rampage and Liddell were receiving as well. I’d imagine that fighters as a brotherhood of sorts and watch out for each other. If they can help the next-man make a little more money, well than they just might.

Here’s why this is stupid on Dana Whites part either way: He can alienate himself from the internet based sites all he wants (I understand to a small point, like 20% of the way down the road he goes, but doesn’t he realize that the future of all publication and media is online?). he problem begins with the fact that you aren’t gonna win a public relations battle with hardcore fans who go to these sites daily and invest more of their time then most fans, or with Randy Couture, the most beloved fighter in MMA history (at least in UFC’s home market). In the end, Randy Couture knows where he got the information. This amounts to a guy blaming his wife’s girlfriends for telling on him when he cheats. it doesn’t matter if she caught him in a lie, or she found out from a friend, she’s leaving you Dana!

Rampage Jackson also trained at ExtremeCouture prior to his fight with Dan Henderson (I remember Dan alluding to this in the press leading up to the fight), but not necessarily with Randy. I’m sure they did socialize though and swapped info. Rampage has his own pay issues with Dana. He gets a PPV percentage and even though Dana was running around saying tha Rampage Chuck fight did about a million buys, Dana paid his bonus based on something like 625k buys

Johnny P and Jaydog know what they are talkin’ about. The UFC has promoted Couture as a composed, collected, calm, rational man. But now, according to D.W. he’s making premature decisions based on speculation, heresay and innuendo. Don’t let that prick pull the wool over our eyes. He’s calling it a retirement, but I know the difference between retiring and resignation. Randy Couture may not be the best fighter in the world, he may not have had the biggest impact on the sport, but he’s damned sure been the best example of a champion this sport has seen so far. I’ve talked alot of crap about D.W. and Zuffa over the past couple of years, but they can just speak for themselves now. Shuttin’ down Pride, dickin’ around Fedor and now losing Randy Couture. Fricken idiots. Pardon my French Sam but I’m pissed.

I think you’re missing Matt’s point, which is that Randy is well-connected enough in this industry that if he wants to get enough about what other fighters are being paid then he doesn’t need to rely on the Internet as his sole source of information.

I’m pretty sure that Dana knows Randy wasn’t getting his info from the Internet but Dana is taking a lot of heat and wants to spin the situation to a point where someone other than him is a bad guy. He tried the blogs and now he’s trying Couture’s “scumbag” Hollywood agent. I’m sure he’ll think of some more people to point fingers at so that he can deflect accountability further.